


Two More Days

by SmiLego



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Post-Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:22:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21719116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmiLego/pseuds/SmiLego
Summary: Chloe has just survived a whole week without Rachel, she has two more days in front of her before she will return. What shall she do with her spare time?
Relationships: Rachel Amber/Chloe Price
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: Favorite Amberprice Fics





	Two More Days

**Author's Note:**

> Written in First Person POV from the point of view of Chloe Price

" _Ghost rider in the sky_ … You are listening to 87.9 FM The STYR, I'm Steve Stevenson and I'll let you figure out the name of the song we just played for you. If you're on the road, I pity you, we are having one hell of a morning and if you're one of the lucky ones that are just waking up, stay in bed! You don't want to go outside just yet. It's pissing cats and dogs out there! Trust me, your boss will understand if you stay a little while longer. Okay, enough chit chat, for our next song, she's blonde, she's lovely…"

"Oh hella no! Every morning's the same shit!"

I waved my left arm around trying to reach for something I could throw. At first I met my trusty blanket - my only warden against cold nights - but that was too cumbersome to use as projectile, followed by the mattress, even more cumbersome and my pillow - I was using that at the moment and I didn't feel like departing with it at the moment. Either everything was escaping my grasp on purpose or there was just nothing else in reach.

"…and she doesn't want a certain stupid bitch to steal her man, you guessed it…"

I might as well try with the other arm, I let it drop down at the edge of the bed and it immediately bumped into something solid.

"…it's Dolly Parton with…

An empty beer bottle, that would do. And off it went. Why did I keep my alarm clock so far from the bed anyway? Right, Rachel's idea. It was supposed to force me to get out of bed more quickly… this strategy was working so well so far.

"Jolene… _Jolene! Jolene! Jolene! Jo_ …"

The sounds of the beer bottle reaching the alarm clock was music to my ears. Finally some peace and quiet. I hadn't heard the bottle hit the floor though so I had to look up and check on its status.

I guessed by the desk, near the window hadn't been the best placement for the alarm clock. I hoped I hadn't left the window open or I would have to remember to go look for the beer bottle in the front yard before Joyce or, god help me, David found it first.

I summed up all my strength and moved my legs to let them dangle on the edge of the bed. That should do it for now. Looked like I'd slept with my socks on. A pink "fuck you" sock on the left and a black and yellow Firewalk one on the right. Since Joyce decided to let me do my own laundry, I hadn't been able to keep a matching pair together. Who cares, it didn't bother anyone anyway. That was enough resting, I had to continue and hopped out of bed.

I needed to assess the damage by the window, the rainfall was so noisy, it sounded like it was raining directly inside the chamber.

One foot in front of the other. Trying not to walk on one of the dead corpses of last night’s six-pack. It was a struggle but I finally reached the desk. And I had forgotten to close the window last night. That explained the loud sound of rain and the huge muddle of water that had formed under the desk. Lucky for me, I had waterproofed the electric outlet a long time ago, because that wasn't the first time that thing happened to me. I closed the window and now my socks were all soaked. Great. Perfect start of the day. I had to check on the desk to see what I would have to throw out and what I would have been able to salvage.

All the papers were goners. At least, there was nothing important, just garbage plans and rough-draft of my updated resume. The final version was safe in a plastic liner, not that anyone would ever bother reading, I'd written it mostly to appease Joyce's mind. I might have hit the alarm clock a bit too hard this time, a part of it was still sitting on the desk and I wasn't sure if it was supposed to come off. Too bad, I liked this one. I needed to be more careful since Joyce said she wouldn't buy me a new one before next Christmas and that wasn't until a long time. Oh well, I'd have some fun putting that back together tonight. At least that would be something to occupy myself with…

Two more days before Rachel would be back from her "family" trip. Okay that wasn't really a family trip per say, I felt a bit sad for her, she loved Nanny, her grandmother, even if she told me she hadn't seen her a lot in the recent years, every time she came up it was only to say good things about her. So learning that she had passed away hadn't been a good time for me and I guessed it wasn't for Rachel either. Her father had got Wells under his thumbs so he had given her a week off to go and grieve. It wasn't even heris mother, Nanny was from Rachel’s mother's side. Anyway, off they went to Vermont for a week. Fucking Vermont of all places… A week without Rachel, my angel. A week of hell. But, hey! Good news, only two days left, I only had to survive until the end of the weekend and she would come back to me. I could do it!

What was it she always said? Start the day by planning it. So I had to do that: first, I needed to medicate, second… I guessed I'd find out the second step afterwards. I started to make my way towards my bed when a foul odor reached my nose. I sniffed my armpit. Ew! New plan! First step: A good long shower. Second: Medication. That reminded me, I needed to check if I had enough left in my stash.

I took two long strides towards my bed, felt the palm of my feet hitting the smooth surface of an empty bottle and started to fall over. Like the super ninja that I was, I recovered graciously by extending my arms forward and getting hold of the frame of the bed before my head could hit the ground. I wondered who was the dumbass that had left all these beer bottles around like that. I slid down half under the bed and retrieved the metal box with the key stuck in its lock. I knew that keeping the key inside its lock wasn't high security and that anyone that wanted to would be able to get to it but I thought that the pile of dirty laundry scattered around the bed would be enough a deterrent for anyone. I opened the box and… It was empty.

Looked like I would have to get out of the house today after all. Step one: shower, step two: finding a clean enough set of clothes to wear, step three: acquiring medication. Step four: driving back home safely without alerting the police. I didn't want to spend the rest of the day behind bars waiting for Joyce to finish her shift and come pick me up. Once was one experience too many for me. Then step five: medication at last! And for step six, I didn't know. Perhaps a movie or just going back to sleep. In fact, that sounded like a good plan. I suddenly felt the urge to skip the rest and go just do that. But no. I had to be strong. I made my plan, I had to follow through now or else Rachel would be mad at me. She would know that I failed to follow on my plans. She always knew. It was one of her super powers after all. She might be able to read my mind… or perhaps she read it on my face. Anyway, I wasn't about to risk it. So I picked up the first pair of jeans and t-shirt I could put my hands on and headed to the bathroom.

Passing by my parents' bedroom, I heard Joyce laughing. I wasn't sure if I had ever heard her laugh this way since… the accident. My heart still ached even when I was merely just thinking about it. Back to my mother's laughter: she sounded so light and carefree. I hoped David wasn't in the room with her. Oh god, I should start plugging my ears in the morning to stop myself from eavesdropping on whatever was going on in there. I hoped that laugh was the reaction of her reading a good book. Yes, that was it. She was reading a book. Couldn't be anything else. I closed the bathroom door behind me, dropped what was passing as my fresh clothes for the day on the counter, removed my soaked socks and threw them towards the bin. It was a decent throw but it didn't quite hit the target, they landed at the feet of it. Panties and wife beater hit the ground as well. The room was a bit chilly but I didn't have to stay in this state for much longer. I stopped by the mirror.

"Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the punkiest one of all?"

While waiting for the answer - if one would ever happen to come - I did my morning checkup. I still had two eyes and eyebrows, one ear on each side of my perfect head and the teeth were still standing although they might need a bit more brushing. The jaw was still in working condition. The nose had healed quite nicely, I could barely see the bruise anymore. The hair would need to be dyed again soon, the roots were starting to show up too much for my liking. Nothing was unexpected so it was time to jump into the shower.

Just when the hot water started to kick in, I heard a loud thump coming from outside, it was louder than a knock on the door and not close enough to come from the hallway. Might have been coming from Joyce's room. What was she doing in there? David was supposed to be working today anyway… I had to clear my head, this shower wasn't helping as much as I had hoped. I needed to distract myself with something. Anything. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander. My angel popped into my head, with her perfect smile that reached all the way to her blue earrings. Before I could realize it, my hands were already sliding along my thigh. I had to stop. Rachel would know and she would never forgive me. She was grieving and she told me to wait for her return. I knew I should never have accepted that but her big wet eyes were fixed on me, there was no chance I could have rejected her demand then. And what right did I have to be happy while so was in such a sad state. Rachel won once more, I would wait. Two more days. It would be one hell of a night when she'll be back, that was for sure. So no playing with myself, what was left? I could try what I used to do when I was little and lose myself in another world. Rachel loves to sing in the shower, I could give it a go.

I took a deep breath and concentrated really hard. I was Chloe Price, nobody from Arcadia Bay. No, I was The Chloe Price, the most famous singer of Oregon! Of the entire world even! Okay, I needed to dial it back down. Even my imagination wasn't buying it. So, I was ready, on set, light on my face, the crowd was ecstatic. It was time to rock.

"This one's for my angel, the heart of my heart, my raison d'être: Rachel Amber!"

I grabbed my microphone and started singing as loud as I could.

" _One way or another, I'm gonna find ya. I'm gonna get ya get ya, get yah, get ya_ …"

Why did I pick this song? That wasn't punk rock at all. It's a song about revenge. I wanted no revenge on Rachel. But my instinct told me to pick this song and nothing good ever came out of not following my instinct so I continued. The crowd seemed to approve, they were throwing bouquets and even panties on the stage now. I ripped my shirt off my torso and threw it back at the crowd.

" _One way or another I'm gonna win ya. I'm gonna get ya, get ya, get ya_ …"

I thrashed my head around, the crowd was on fire.

"… _get ya, get ya, get ya._ "

As the perfect finish to this great song, I was about to go crowd surfing. I took a few steps back to gain enough momentum when I felt the cold tiling of the shower wall on my back. I remembered at this moment that I was still physically in my bathroom and going to jump headfirst on the ground wouldn't be the best idea. I put the shampoo bottle back to its original place, turned the water off and stepped out of the shower.

Beside the heater running, the bathroom was still too cold for my liking, compare to the heat of the water I'd just left. A warm towel would feel like heaven right about now and I knew exactly where they were all nesting. I went to the closet, grabbed one and rolled it around myself. So smooth but too short! I had gotten the small one, I couldn't make it go around long enough to make it hold on its own. I could have just dropped it and picked another one but I didn't feel like going back to the cold air of the bathroom so I decided this one would do for today. I went to grab the hair dryer where I usually left it, right by the side of the sink but it wasn't there anymore. If only I remembered where Joyce usually stored it. I guess I'll just let them dry naturally. It wasn't like I had to be presentable today. A few stroke of the hairbrush on my wet hair later, I was ready to head out. Hold my towel closed with one hand, I was opening the door with the other when I found myself in front of the last person I was expected to see today.

The daughter of the infamous soon-to-be-ejected-from-office District Attorney was standing in the small hallway, obstructing the path to my room. I blinked twice. Was I still daydreaming after all? I was about to rub my eyes awake with both hands when I remembered that if I did just that I would have a towel accident. I used my free hand but she was still there. Standing in front of me with her irresistible smile. The most beautiful girl of Blackwell Academy, hell, of Arcadia Bay even was starting to laugh at me now.

Did I fall asleep in the shower? Was it Monday already? And what was she wearing? Her wet hair were dripping on my father's jacket. I was possessive about this jacket and wouldn't have lent it to anyone that would have asked but I had to admit she looked hella fine in it. She had left it unbuttoned and I could see she was wearing nothing but her bra and panties underneath. At any moment, Joyce could be barging on us half naked girls. I wanted to address this issue first but my mouth decided otherwise.

"But… but… Vermont?"

"Got bored, took a train. Nanny would have understood."

"Your parents?"

"Still all the way there. By the way, I'm crashing at your place for the rest of the weekend, it seems I forgot my keys in _Father_ 's car."

The way she always seemed more somber when pronouncing the word father would make one think the recipient was dead to her, and one would be right. After what he had done to her, he should feel lucky she was still referring to him as related to her. And speaking of embarrassment - not that mine could even compare with what he did - how much of an ass had I made of myself?

"How… how long have you been standing at the door?"

"Not too long. I'd just arrived when you opened it."

"Oh, good. That's good."

She had a giant smirk on her devastatingly gorgeous face. Fuck, that wasn't true. She started humming quietly.

" _One way or the other_ …"

Fuck! She would never let me live it down. I was toasted.

"Stop mocking me!"

"You know, Chloe, you have such a beautiful voice. You should sing more often."

"You ass. You know what I sound like and it's far from good. More like a frog with a mouth full of mud."

"I happened to find French singers' voices very appealing."

"Not that kind of frog!"

"I swear, you sound good, sing some more please. For me? Pretty please?"

"Only if you join me."

I took a step back to let enough space for Rachel to enter the bathroom if she wanted to. She took me up on my offer, entered, went straight for the vanity.

"Do you want to sing a duet?"

She opened the double glass doors and started searching for something.

"I meant, join me in the shower, dummy! I've just finished mine but it seemed like you could use one yourself. I could hop in with you. I'm sure we could find something to clean off me still."

I closed the bathroom door behind me. Should I let me towel drop now or wait for her to remove it herself? She hadn't found what she was looking for so now she was slowly bending down opening the top drawer of the bottom part of the vanity and putting her head inside. What was she looking for and did she really have to look for it with her noise? Her voice sounded a bit echo-y.

"I know what you meant but you know what that will lead to, if I join you, right?"

I could still remember clearly the first time we were able to take a shower together, on the night of her eighteenth birthday, last July. We had had a few others afterwards but this first one would stay engraved into my mind forever. I was very much ready for a repeat performance.

"That was kinda my plan, yeah…"

Rachel turned around and locked her eyes into mine for a second. There was no denying, there was lust in her hazel pearls. Looked like the grieving stage was over.

"Someone is being naughty…"

I couldn't help myself, my cheek must have been as red as a tomato. I was about to imagine what I would be doing to her once under the shower when she added a follow-up question.

"Don't you remember what we said?"

The hot shower action was in jeopardy. While I was thinking about steam, she was focused on her deal. I couldn't believe she was still serious about that.

"What? Come on! You're here now, we don't have to wait anymore."

"Me being here earlier doesn't change the deal. I said until the end of the weekend. That means two more days."

Rachel turned back to her task and made a happy sound.

"There you are."

Having found what she had been looking for, she took out the hairdryer from the bottom drawer, applied it on the side of her head and turned it on. Just like that, the hot shower action was canceled. she really took this deal of ours to heart. I had to raise my voice to be sure to be heard over the drying racket.

"Rah… fine. Two more days. But I'll make sure you will regret it by the end of the weekend."

Rachel was magical. It always took me forever to dry my hair but for her, only a few seconds were enough. She turned off the noisy machine and handed it to me.

"I'm sure you will try. Now hurry up and come join me in your room. I've plans for today."

I took the hair dryer and put it in its rightful place, on the sink near the toothbrush. I'd be using it later but it was too noisy for a proper conversation. I had to know more about theses plans of hers.

"Of course you have. And what would these plans be..."

I turned back towards the door but she was already gone. How did I not hear her leave? She even was able to close the door behind her. How could she do that? I guessed I wasn't the only one with ninja skills.

Once again alone in the bathroom, I had nothing to hide from anyone, so I let my towel drop to the floor and went about to dry my hair. Having seen my angel had got my blood pumping, I could barely feel the chill of the bathroom air. I finished my business as fast as I could, not wanting to keep Rachel waiting, and I went back to my room. My hopes went up for a second when I saw my jacket attached to its usual stand but it quickly dashed away when I found Rachel already fully clothed. She was wearing my clothes though so that was a funny sight to see. Her wet ones were drying on my desk chair. Looked like the rain didn't spare her. She was lounging on my bed, reading the latest issue of "Chicks and Tats" I hadn't been able to finish last night.

"Oh, I love this one. It would look great on your back."

She was looking at the rising phoenix tattoo from page twelve, I had my eyes on it since I first saw it but it wasn't my back I was thinking about when I thought about it applied on someone.

"It looks expensive though… and would be far better on yours. Would match perfectly with your hair."

"Hmm. You might be right on this one. We could wait to save more money and get it next year?"

"I'd prefer we save money to have enough to get out of this hellhole but after that? Sure!"

Rachel went back to flip through the magazine. I had to find something to get her away from it. I thought about a surprise attack, jumping in bed to start playing with her feet, that should get her away from the pages but she would consider that as playing. And she was clear: two more days. So I used plan B: I went with the obvious plain question.

"So, you were talking about plans for today?"

Rachel closed the magazine, tossed it at the bottom of the bed and turned to me.

"Yes, indeed. But first, what did you do last night?"

Her eyes were fixed on mine. I was sure, she was using her mind reading power again.

"Erg… Nothing. I promise."

Her eyes stopped their probing just long enough to have a quick scan of the room. I wasn't like she didn't have time to do just that before.

"Looks like you had quite a party."

"Oh that? Well not your kind of party, that's for sure…"

Rachel pointed at the empty half torn cardboard box that was somehow still standing on my desk.

"Only a six-pack?"

"Couldn't afford more."

"Perfect. Come with me."

She quickly got up, grabbed my jacket before I could and put it on. Looks like I was going jacketless for the day. She took me by the hand and dragged me all the way to the door. As if on autopilot, I turned towards the stairs and was about to continue in their direction when Rachel stopped me in my tracks.

"Don't forget to grab your boots."

"Right. No one wants to see my ugly feet."

"I love your ugly feet but since we will probably be heading out soon after, you don't want to walk outside barefoot, do you?"

"I guess not…"

"I mean your barefoot on the cold metal paddles of your truck, that doesn't sound like a good time."

"I get it. I'll go pick them up right now."

I walked back to the door frame and started to scan the room for my footwear. Where did I left them? I saw a couple of mostly clean socks hanging by the door but no boots so far. I took two of them, I would be needing them shortly. I felt Rachel's hand gently resting on my shoulder.

"Last time I saw them, they were by the bin in the bathroom, under some dirty socks."

"Fuck!"

Why had I left my boots there? I rushed back to grab them. The wet socks that had landed on my boots instead of the ground as I first thought. I delicately peeled them off my boots and threw them in the bin for good this time. I lifted my boots off the floor and examined them one by one. The dirty socks had landed on the surface of the boots never touching the inside of them. I double-checked to be sure, sliding my hand on the inside and found them dry. Satisfied, I put them back down, grabbed my two clean socks and put them on.

"Disaster averted!"

"Good to know."

I put my boots on and went back in the hallway where Rachel was waiting for me by my chamber door, a big smile on her radiant face and extending her hand towards me. I grabbed it and squeezed it a little. Oh, how I missed her soft skin. I kept looking at her, wanting to focus on that face I had missed so much these past few days but I couldn't help but looked down at the shirt she had chosen to wear. It was mine so it was obviously a good shirt but way too large for her.

"This shirt, on you, is a crime against humanity."

"Uh?"

"It's hiding all your curves!"

"Perv! That was the only one I could find that seem decent enough for an outing. You should do your laundry more often."

"Or perhaps you should start leaving some of your own clothes here. Like you already do at the American Rust. It's not like you are spending as much time here than at your own house."

"You would make some space in your closet for me?"

"Since all my decent clothes are scattered around the floor, I'm sure we won't have a problem making some room in the closet for yours."

"Sweet."

She moved her head close to mine and deposited a light kiss on my cheek. I wanted to reciprocate but she had retracted her head before I could do anything. She started moving towards the stairs then stopped on the first step to let me go first. Perhaps she was as horny as I was after all and wanted to check me out while going down. No, that would make sense if we were going up... that wasn't it. She was probably just tired of hearing me complain about how slow she always was going up and down the stairs.

The smell of pancakes was still hanging in the hallway, clearly coming from the kitchen. My stomach growled, it was time to go check if there was any leftovers. Joyce had her back to us, standing near the sink, finishing up cleaning the dishes. She was already wearing her work apron and had apparently done something to her hair, she looked more like a housewife from the 60's than ever. As if she had read my mind or perhaps it was due to the noise my boots were making on the ceramic tiles, she turned around as I stepped into the arch of the kitchen entrance.

"Well, look who the cat's finally dragged in. Isn't it my favorite daughter."

She was definitely in a happy mood this morning.

"Morning, Joyce."

And her smile was gone. It was still strange how she reacted, perhaps she really didn't like the sound of her own name. She tilted her head, probably to look behind me and her smile was back on.

"Oh my! Is that Rachel hiding behind you, Chloe?"

"Morning Mrs. Madsen."

"Come on here, darling, let me give you a hug."

Rachel could never say no to the southern queen's hug, she passed me and walked slowly towards my mother that had her arm extended towards her. She let herself be embraced my mother. It looked like she really needed it. Perhaps I should have offered one to her upstairs. Well, it was too late for me and my mother would probably be able to fill her hugging quota for the day. They kept on hugging for a while. As I was not part of the hug-fest, I decided to check the fridge for leftover pancakes. After a few seconds of observation, it was clear there was no pancake leftover and no milk either, the fridge was half empty, meaning Joyce would probably go grocery shopping after work tonight but more importantly, no breakfast for me today. I closed the fridge and looked back towards my angel and the huge monster. They had disengaged by now but were still close to one another.

"I do declare, I barely recognized you, wearing Chloe's jacket and all and is that her jeans as well? For a second I thought my daughter had cloned herself."

"My clothes were completely drenched by the rain, so Chloe was kind enough to lend me these."

"That's the caring daughter I remember."

Mum was laying it on thick this morning.

"Hey! I'm still in the room. Stop talking about me like I'm not even there!"

This statement had never worked in the past but I still had to say it. At first, I thought I had finally gone through to them as my mother's smile disappeared from her face but instead of the angered or jaded look I had expected she was wearing a sad expression.

"I heard about your grandma, Rachel. David just went out to the shooting range but I'm sure that if he were here he would join me in saying how sorry we are to hear about her passing and we would like to offer our condolences."

Rachel's mouth was closed, her eyes still fixed on my mother but I spotted the sparkle of a tear starting to come out.

"That sweet of you to say, thank you."

"But weren't you supposed to be back on Monday at the earliest?"

"We had some change of plans."

Joyce looked Rachel up and down.

"And have they been feeding you well? I know they don't have huge parties during wakes like I used to have back in my childhood home town..."

I was irritated to see my mother talking about wakes without missing a beat. It seemed she wasn't having any thoughts about the one we had had for Dad. And my mind went back down the deep abyss that had been opened on that tragic day, I hoped the conversation would head towards another subject soon or I would have to ditch them both and go wait in the truck.

"I ate plenty there, I didn't know there were so many kinds of apple pies."

They might have fed her well back there but it looked like she had skipped a meal that day. Rachel's stomach emitted the cutest little growl. I knew I wasn't the only one who was hungry. Joyce caught up on it as well.

"Sorry ladies, but we are all out of breakfast. I just cleaned the last pot, you will have to take care of it on your own. If you can wait one more hour and come by the diner I'll offer you a decent brunch."

Oh, Joyce was probably trying to comfort Rachel by offering us brunch. Who would be crazy enough to pass on free brunch?

"Thanks for the offer, Mrs. Madsen but we have other plans."

This girl apparently.

"We do?"

Rachel kicked me in the leg. She did it discreetly enough that Joyce didn't even notice.

"Yes, Chloe, don't you remember?"

Did I remember the plans she still hadn't told me anything about?

"Ah, yes. The thing. Sorry Joyce, raincheck on the brunch?"

The queen of the household responded only by throwing me a mean look full of fire. I guessed it meant no rain check on the brunch. At least not for me.

"We have to go now. It was nice to see you again, Mrs. Madsen."

"You can call me Joyce, you know? And it was nice to you too, Rachel. If you are going out, it's still raining, so don't forget your coat. I see you have one on, Rachel. But, Chloe, what were you planning on wearing?"

Joyce had a good point. Since my wardrobe was limited to the leather jacket my father left me that was currently being worn by my angel and I couldn't wear hers instead - it being wetter than the Pacific Ocean and far too small for me anyway - I didn't have anything left to wear. I went into the hallway and looked at the coat hanger. My eyes lingered on David's jackets - there was no way in hell that I would be caught wearing one of his - then spotted Mum's raincoat, she would probably need it when she would go to work, so I couldn't use it either. I came back into the kitchen empty handed.

"I knew I should have bought you a raincoat as well, Chloe. You can borrow one of my old ones, there are still some in the garage, in the first cardboard boxes on the left at the door."

I went to the garage, now David's workshop and opened the first box I could find. The only wearable coat I found there was a bright yellow one. That would do for now.

"Thanks, Joyce."

"You're welcome, O daughter of mine."

I looked at the yellow coat once more, searching for a reason not to wear it.

"You will look hella good in it."

Rachel had joined me in the garage.

"Shut up."

"At least, everyone will be able to see you with that on."

"Do you want to trade?"

"My awesome leather jacket that smells like the most sexy punk I know for this old yellow moth fest? No, thank you!"

"Great."

I put the coat on. At least it fit me.

"Could you at least hand me my beanie, please?"

Rachel reached into the jacket's inner pocket, searched for a second but came up empty. She looked into the other pockets but ended up with the same result. She shrugged.

"I must have left it in the truck. Speaking of, could you give me the keys as well."

Rachel picked up the screwdriver from the left pocket and threw it at me. I caught it on the first try, I was expecting to see it pass me by and land on the floor but this time I had been able to catch it on time. My reflexes were turning up this morning. I was proud of them.

"Let's go then."

She turned and left the garage. I followed her. My jacket was looking really good on her.

We stopped in front of the door. The rain hadn't stopped, we could hear it loud and clear from here. It looked like it was falling harder than earlier. I was wondering if we shouldn't just give up on the plan and stay at home instead. It was an ideal weather for a Blade Runner marathon - all three of the endings I had been able to get my hands on, one day I would find the other ones.

"Do we really have to go out?"

"Yes, we do. Stop being a chicken and open the door already."

"What's the next step of the plan, anyway?"

"We go to the mall and grab something to drink."

"Ha. And with what money? We are not taking from the savings once again or we will never get to…"

"Save your breath, I've got us covered this time."

She plunged her hand into the right pocket of my jacket and took out a big fat wad of Hamiltons that she proceeded to wave out in front of me.

"Where did you get that?"

"I might have forgotten my keys in Vermont but I didn't forget to loot _Father_ 's wallet before coming here."

"That's my girl!"

With this much money, we could say goodbye to cheap beers and hello to middle range beverage! Or perhaps we could get something else instead.

"Or we could go get some medication, I'm all out."

"I've already got us cover for that as well."

She padded the same pocket she had taken the bills out of. When did she have the time to fill up all my jacket's pockets? I was all out of reasons not to go so we might as well get it over with.

I opened the door and we were met with a literal waterfall. Why did I bother to take a shower earlier? I could barely see the truck, still standing on the grass where I parked it the previous evening. It was a good thing. I vaguely remembered the Step Fuhrer threatening me to have it towed if I didn't move it last night but it looked like he didn't follow through with his threat.

"Okay, Rachel. I'll go first. When I tell you, you run straight up and I'll open the door for you."

"My knight in shiny yellow armor, clearing the way for her punk princess. So sweet!"

"Shut up and get ready."

I took a deep breath and ran. I ran like hell, I ran as if Wells was chasing me with a letter telling me I had to go back to Blackwell. I reached the truck and found out I had parked so that the passenger's door was facing the home front door. It meant less trouble for Rachel but also that I had to go around it to get to my door. I had long abandoned the thought of opening the passenger's door from the outside. Something was lodged somewhere and wouldn't come out. It only allowed us to open the door from the inside. I quickly made my way to the driver's door and opened it, jumped inside, crawled to the passenger's seat and called for Rachel.

"Rachel, you're on!"

I counted to five, opened the passenger's door and scooched over to the driver's seat. Rachel was right on time, she jumped inside and closed the door behind her. She closed a small black umbrella and set it at the foot of the seat.

An umbrella, why didn't I think about getting one? Rachel saw me eyeing it apparently.

"Your mother gave it to me right when you left. She had one for you as well but you were already gone. She cares for you, you know? See? Not a raindrop on your jacket."

"Well, thank fuck for that. So where to now?"

"Do you still remember the direction to Captain Jack's?"

Did she really ask me that? I had to play dumb.

"Is that the bar with the tricorn on top of the entrance?"

"No, it's the bar with the wooden panels on the walls that are full of alga and others seashell."

"Oh, you mean the bar owned by the dirty old guy with the long beard?"

"No, no. The bar with the waitress that are dressed like pirate wenches."

"No, I have no idea what you are talking about."

Rachel threw me an elbow kick to the side.

"Drive already."

"I hope they are still open with this weather…"

"Whatever the weather, they are always open. Drought or snow. Nothing could stop Jack from opening his bar."

"Not even a storm?"

"Not even if Ragnarok was finally happening and a hailstorm was raging on his front door, Jack would be screaming at it, with a beer in his hand and still welcoming people inside."

"Remind me where did you find this guy?"

"He was a classmate of my … of _Father_. He started selling alcohol at school and once school was over he kinda continued doing it."

"And we're going there because he is not carding?"

"Oh he is carding alright, I just happened to know the secret password that let me have anything I want."

"So he doesn't know you're not really the District Attorney's loyal little daughter anymore?"

"Yeah, that helps as well."

The rain was still going down outside but it wasn't too dense to prevent me from driving. I plugged the screwdriver in and we were on our way.

Something was still bothering me from earlier and we had a few minutes to kill before arriving at our destination.

"So, Rachel, how exactly did you get into my house? Joyce hadn't seen you come in and I haven't given you a key, so clearly not from the front door. Unless David let you in?"

"David was already on his way out by the time I arrived. No, No. I came by the usual route."

"Impossible, I locked the window before going to the shower. Unless you were in my room this whole time?"

"No, I wasn't. You might be a ninja able to unlock everything but you should also train your skill at locking things afterward. I cracked your window without breaking a sweat. And before you ask, same thing for your bathroom, it wasn't locked at all. I was able to sneak in and out without trouble."

"Fuck."

"Fuck indeed. Imagine if David had wanted to use the toilet and didn't see that the lights were already on…"

"Oh my god, shut up! I'm gonna have this image stuck in my brain for the rest of the day now."

Rachel just laughed, opened the glove box and started to rummage through it. I concentrated on the road ahead. The visibility was still drivable but still not a hundred percent clear so I had to be careful or that could be our last trip.

I parked the truck right in front of the bar and was about to get out when Rachel grabbed me by the arm.

"What is it?"

"Could you lend me your coat please?"

"You're already wearing it."

"I meant your yellow one."

"This moth riddled piece of garbage?"

"That's not the words I used but yes, please?"

"But what am I going to wear then?"

"Nothing. You're staying in the car."

"What?"

"You heard me."

Every time, it was the same thing. Rachel would never let me go inside. I wondered what she was hiding in there. I couldn't wait to be twenty one and finally be able to enter this bar to see what was really going on there.

I removed my coat and handed it to my angel. With a sweet smile, she put it on over my jacket.

"Thank you. I won't be long."

She opened the passenger's door, jumped out, closed it and she ran inside the bar. I played with my thumbs for a few minutes until I saw her coming out of it with a six-pack in one hand and a brown bag in the other. I wasn't familiar with the color of the box she was carrying so I guessed I was in for a surprise. I quickly slid to the passenger's seat and opened the door for her. She handed me the six-pack and jumped in as I slid back into my seat. She placed the brown bag on the dashboard in front of her. An aroma of spices and roasted beef emanated from it. Feeling suddenly more thirsty than hungry, I switched my attention towards the beer pack. Its name was in German, a long word that I couldn't pronounce, with a lot of e's in it. I started to rip open the box when Rachel grabbed my arm once again.

"Not yet."

"But…"

"You still have some driving to do. You very well know how bad it is to drink and drive. Especially in this weather."

"Yes, officer."

"Be a good girl now. You know what happened to girls that misbehave…"

"So, if I'm bad, you will have to punish me…"

Oh, tempting.

"Two more days, Chloe."

I sighed.

"Two more days. What's in the brown bag?"

"Our lunch."

"Oh sweet, I'm starving! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"

"Not now. We will eat at our next destination."

"You will let me drive hungry like that?"

"You seemed to have done fine for now."

"You're killing me, you know that."

"You won't starve on our way to my house, it's not so far from here."

"Your house? I thought you didn't have the keys."

"I don't. That won't stop us from accomplishing our next task though."

"To the Amber household then."

"Hurry up, chauffeur and don't run over any more potholes, you hear me?"

"Fuck you, Rachel!"

"I love you too, Chloe."

I drove miss Daisy for a few more minutes until we reached her house. Anyone who didn't know us would be asking, with a house like that, why were we spending all our time in a car graveyard or at my house instead of Rachel's. The simple fact that her father was still living there, after all he did , made the environment in the house too toxic for my angel. And the last time I saw him in person, I promised him that I would punch his teeth out. Since he was still the District Attorney, he was still attached to his teeth and had promised me and would make my life a living hell if I went near his house again. So we had been avoiding spending time here as much as we could.

"Do I have to wait in the truck this time too?"

"Nope, you're coming with me."

She stripped out of the yellow coat and handed it back to me. I took it unenthusiastically. She wasn't stripping anything else and was just expectantly looking at me. She was surely waiting for me to put it back on, so I completed her implicit request. Apparently satisfied with the result, she picked up the umbrella and brown bag then went out of the truck. I removed the screwdriver from the ignition, stored it in my temporary coat and got out of the truck as well.

Rachel was in front of the house main entrance, trying the doorknob. It was turning without problem but the door wouldn't budge, it stayed closed.

"Were you expecting another result?"

"Well, I tried it anyway. Sometimes they are careless and leave it opened… It isn't one of this time though."

"So where to now?"

I turned around and headed back to the truck.

"Not so fast. We are not done here."

She headed for the garden entrance and stopped by the wall right next to the wooden door.

"Okay, give me a boost now, please."

"You sure you want to climb that?"

"Uh-huh."

"Won't the neighbors notice and call the cops on us?"

"Nope."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Half of them are never around during the weekend and the ones that stick do around don't spend their day at the window. Especially when it's pouring outside like that."

"Uh-huh…"

"And if by any chance, one of them was still looking outside, well, it's not the first time they will see their neighbor's daughter climbing this particular wall."

It sounded all well and good, except for one small detail.

"There is still a flaw in your plan."

"Is there?"

"Yes. They won't see the regular neighbor daughter though, but a little punk in leather jacket and her fellow hooligans' in a yellow coat. Suspicious enough to call it in, don't you think?"

"Damn! I guess We have to be quick and hope they are not looking through the window then. Boost me."

This girl was crazy, and I was crazy to enable her so. We were really made for one another.

I blocked my back against the wall, locked my feet firmly in place, linked my hands together in front of me waiting for her to place her foot in. I wondered how she had been able to climb this wall on her own in the past. Though, she might not have had her hands full at the time. In three swift moves she was up the wall and down on the other side. She yelled a bit too loudly.

"Your turn now!"

I turned around to get a better look at the wall. How had she been able to climb that? There was barely anything to grab a hold on to. Was she secretly a spider and had been able to stick herself to surfaces or something? I was a bit at a loss on how to handle this.

"Erh… Rachel? How am I supposed to do that? There's no one to boost me now."

"With your long legs and arms that should be a piece of cake for you. You never took climbing in school?"

"Poor public school. We only had team sports, running and aerobic gymnastics."

"Okay, let me go find the spare key. Give me a second."

I patiently waited. Under constant assault of the heavy rain. Looking at my truck, my very identifiable truck part in front of Rachel house where we were sneaking in. If anyone was looking, there was no way they wouldn't know it was us. How dumb were we being? I looked down. My boots were awesome. While they were completely soaked from the outside, not a single drop was getting in. I finally heard some shuffling coming from the other side of the door.

"Chloe?"

"Still here. Can you open the door now?"

"The hidden key wasn't at its usual spot. Mum must have used it and forgot to put it back afterward. But don't worry, I've got you. Move a bit away from the door."

I took a step back and saw a thick rope coming from the top. I grabbed on to it and pulled. It didn't moved. It would do. I used the rope to climb over the door. My boots were leaving some marks behind they would probably wash away soon with this rain. Once on top of the door I could see Rachel on the other side, waving me to jump. I did and landed on some plot of petunias. They might not recover from it, I would have to give something back to Rose for that.

"Hurry now."

Rachel started to run toward the porch of a small red brick garden house. We stopped under the protection of the extended roof and sat on the dry bench.

"Well, it's still raining."

"It sure is."

"We can eat now before it gets cold."

"But we left the beers in the truck!"

"No drinking yet, you still have some driving to do afterwards."

"If you say so…"

A dry lunch. It wasn't ideal but Rachel was at my side and she wasn't drinking either, by solidarity, so it made up for it. I took a bit out of my sandwich. It was delicious, still plenty hot and sliding down my tummy with ease. I wanted more. I took another bit. And another. The last one didn't go as smoothly as the previous one. I felt it still stuck in my throat.

"Take is easy, Chloe. No one's gonna steal it from you. There, that should help you."

Rachel handed me an open water bottle. I accepted it eagerly and used it immediately. My throat cleared up nicely.

"Thank Rach."

I went back to wolfing down my sandwich.

"So there was a weirdo in my wagon on my way back here. He had snuck on the train at the same station I did and around midway to Seattle, he got up and started screaming about the end being near and we should all be wary of the holes in the sky that could suck us up in space or something like that."

"No way?"

"Yeah. I wonder what he had taken but he seemed completely out of his mind. He said he was walking home with his dog one day when a big hole appears above him and sucked in his dog. Since then he has seen many similar holes in the sky taking different kinds of things… He was very detailed in his descriptions of the event you could almost believe it was true."

"I wish I'd been there to witness that."

"You would have laughed for sure. Anyway, about ten minutes in his monologue, the train security arrived on our wagon and took him away."

"Aww."

"Yeah, no more entertainment. The rest of the ride was pretty boring after that."

"So beside the wild ride back, how was Vermont?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Not today at least. Ask me tomorrow."

"Okay."

My sandwich gone, I licked my fingers to keep the taste lasting a little longer while observing my surroundings. It only occurred to me at this instant that it was the first time I was in Rachel's garden. We really didn't spend a lot of time at her house and when we did, it was mainly in her room. Her garden was interesting, there were flowers everywhere. All sort of them. I wasn't a plant expert and usually I didn't really care for them but I had to admit, this arrangement was very pleasing to the eye.

"You know, Rachel. It might sound strange but I have to say, you really have a hella cool garden."

"It's all Rose’s work. It's her pride and joy. She kinda pours all her free time into it. I could spend all day during vacation just wandering inside it. Now… I only set foot in it to sneak into the house."

The toxic atmosphere her father had created in their house had really taken its toll on Rachel. She was looking around with a quizzing expression on her face.

"Today, you have the opportunity to try and connect with this place again. With the rest of the household so far away, there is no one left around to prevent you from relaxing a little."

"With him still in Vermont, you would think I should be able to. But I can still feel his presence looming around. Nope. The magic is gone."

"Well, that sucks."

"So, if you're done with your lunch, we can get back to business."

"I guess you didn't bring me here just for the view?"

"So… you’re always boasting about your ninja skills."

"I’m the best in town! Why? Do you need me to ambush someone?"

"I was more thinking about your lock-picking skill this time. Feel like putting your money where your mouth is and proving it on this one?"

Rachel was pointing at the door of the garden house.

"Didn't you say the alarm was on? I know I'm an expert on breaking and entering but I'm not sure I can crack your alarm system from outside without a little preparation first."

"This part of the house isn't managed by the general alarm system. _Father_ had planned to install it but he got busy with other things and hadn't had time to get to it yet."

"I can barely imagine him installing an alarm system with his own hands…"

"Right. It's more like he had to supervise the plans then make sure the workers are doing their job properly and they would have to remove all sensitive items from the house before they could start…"

"I see. So just this door with a normal lock?"

"Yep."

"I'm on it. Prepare to be amazed."

"I'm holding my breath."

I closed the distance with Rachel, put my hands in the jacket she was still wearing to retrieve my tools, bent on one knee in front of the door lock and went to work. Three picks and five minutes later, a satisfying clicking noise emerged from the mechanism and the door finally opened.

"There."

"Good job, Chloe!"

Rachel planted a kiss on my forehead and headed inside. I got up, put my tools in my jeans' back pocket and followed Rachel. She was busy moving gardening tools from one side of the room to the other. She was probably trying to access something covered by all the junk so I helped her out. After ten minutes of digging around and moving stuff we finally uncovered a wooden chest.

"Let's move it in the center."

The chest was heavy but we were able to move it in the middle of the room without having to drag it on the cemented floor. I was getting ready to use my skills once again but Rachel stopped me.

"No need this time."

Indeed, there was no lock on this chest, she opened it without much effort. I wasn't expecting its content.

"Garden gnomes?"

"Yes."

The chest was full of gnomes. Not the regular garden gnomes, these ones were smaller but more expressive. They looked more like the kind of gnomes one would find in a northern European fairy tales book than in someone's garden. One of them had a manic expression on his face that was oriented up as if looking directly at you, all while holding a shovel with two hands over his head. Another one had a small pitchfork hidden behind his back while rolling his eyes and seemed to be whistling. They all had their own expressions and poses. I went to pick up one to examine it more closely. it seemed fitting for the circumstances, he was holding an umbrella over his head with one hand and was trying to hide his laughter with his other. The details on his bearded face was extraordinary. And they were indeed heavier than normal.

"Careful, Chloe. Those are one of a kind."

"What the hell?"

"Nanny took pottery as a hobby after she retired. Since then she had gifted us one handmade gnome a year for Christmas."

"That's awesome."

"I think so too. But apparently, _Father_ didn't think so. Each year, he would accept the gift with the most fake smile he could muster and then, once Nanny went back, he would just throw the gnome in this chest only to take them out and display them on the porch when Nanny would visit…"

"Poor little dudes."

"They have been held up in this chest for far too long. They are due a vacation. Today we are setting them free."

"Really?"

"Yes. Help me bring them to the truck."

"And how do you suggest we do that? I know we are super but I still can't see us lifting this whole chest over the wall. Unless you finally found the key?"

"Still no key. Let's bring the chest to the wall, then we will pass them over it one by one."

"Like throwing them over? Doesn't sound safe for the little guys."

"Nah. We will use that to help them travel over the wall."

I hadn’t noticed Rachel moving away from the chest for a moment. She was now holding a bucket and a rope. She put them on top of the chest and grabbed hold of one side of it. I took the other and we moved the chest outside. The rain was still pouring. Was it going to rain all day? All week even? Should I start building an arch? Rachel didn't seem bothered by it, safely hidden inside my jacket so I acted like I didn't mind it either. We put done the chest against the wall.

"Okay, Rach. How do you want to do this?"

"You will load them up one by one in the bucket. I'll stay on top of the wall, hoist them up and then hoist them down. I guess I'll just try to tip the bucket over gently enough to get them to leave the bucket without bruising them. That should do it."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's do it."

I watched Rachel effortlessly climb the wall. She made it look like this wall was a ladder. She sat on the edge of the wall and waved me to start. I put the first gnome into the bucket and put my thumb up. The bucket went up, Rachel grabbed it and put it on the other side and I watched her concentrating entirely on the hoisting task. After what seemed like the longest ten seconds of my life, Rachel finally gave me the thumbs up. She hissed the bucket back up and threw it down.

"I hope these gnomes are waterproof."

"Of course they are, Chloe. They were made with the purpose of staying outside. That would be bad craftsmanship if they could be destroyed by a little rain."

"There is nothing little about the rain."

"Less talking nonsense and more loading the bucket please."

"As you wish."

It took us more time than I had expected but all the gnomes were finally on the other side. I went to put the chest back in the garden house while Rachel started to load the gnomes in the truck. The thick rope was waiting for me to get over the wall and after some effort I was also back on the street. I helped Rachel load the last few gnomes and we were able to finally escape the rain back into the truck.

I put the screwdriver into the ignition and turned towards Rachel.

"So, where do you think they want to go now?"

"We could show them the American Rust."

"Good idea."

I started the truck and we were on our way.

"Rach?"

"Yes, Chloe?"

"Won't your father be pissed to find the chest empty when he'll be back? Not that I care if he is pissed or not but won't that come back to bite you in the ass in the near future?"

"He was planning on throwing them all away anyway. So I'm sure he will be happy to see them gone. Nothing to worry about on this front."

"Oh. Okay then. Good thing we were able to get to them before he did."

"Indeed. By the way, be careful not to drive over potholes, for real this time. I wouldn't want our guests to be agitated and hurt themselves."

"Right. I'll drive super carefully, I promise. I'll go as slow as a grandma if we need to. We can't really go fast with all this rain anyway."

While I was focused on the road and on my driving, Rachel took the opportunity to fill in the lull in conversation by talking about what had happened at Blackwell Academy on the week before she left for Vermont. I caught a few sentences here and there but nothing felt too important to pay attention to. It felt like she needed to talk and let it all out more than for me to give feedback on it.

A slow trip and a few tales of Victoria's shenanigans later, we were at the American Rust. I started to unload the gnomes and move them into our "home away from home" while Rachel was looking for a decent box to store them into.

"That should do it. I've an aunt in Michigan that's supposed to come by in a month and would be interested in acquiring them. I know she will take good care of them so they will wait for her here."

"Sounds good. Can we get the beers now? All this traveling is getting me thirsty."

"Sorry but we have one last trip to make."

"I think we're getting low on gas."

"Don't worry, I checked earlier, we should have enough for the trip and get a free refill afterward."

Free refill. It meant we were probably going near Blackwell Academy. I hated that place but a poor girl could never say no to a free refill. Victoria or Nathan wouldn't really miss the gas. It wasn't like they couldn't afford it. I'm sure one day, when we will have finally been able to leave this hellhole, we will be rich enough to repay them for all the gas we borrowed.

I felt an itch on top of my fingers, my lips were starting to be missing something.

"Rachel. Can we at least take five minutes? I really need a smoke."

"Fine. But we will have to hurry or we will miss our window."

"Sure, sure. Just one cig and I'll be good to go."

I patted my pockets for my pack and couldn't find it.

"Chloe, think fast."

I looked up. A pack of smoke was flying towards me. Right. She had my jacket where I had them. Habits die hard. I caught the pack, retrieved a smoke from it, lit it and put it in my mouth. My lips seemed satisfied at least and the finger itches were gone.

"Gimme one please?"

I handed the pack back to Rachel. She took a cig and put the rest in my jacket. I sat on my makeshift bed and enjoyed my cancer stick.

"You know what would be perfect right about now?"

"Just tell me, Chloe."

"A good medication…"

"I feel you. But we don't have time for that now. You will be able to do all the medication you want after this last trip. I promise."

"If you say so."

We enjoyed the remaining of our smoke in silence then went back to the truck. Rachel was carrying a bag with her this time.

"What's the bag for?"

"You will see."

"Okay… Where to?"

"Z Mart."

"Z Mart it is. You know what, Rach?"

"No. But I guess you will tell me soon enough."

"I'm hella proud of my truck."

"You always are."

"True. But even more this time. We’ve never really had this much rain since… forever and it has taken it without a fault. The engine hasn't drowned, the tires haven't made us go into aquaplaning."

"Yet."

"I'm sure we won't. Today, our truck is on super truck mode. Nothing will stop it!"

"Don't let it go to your head too much. You should still be careful."

"Yes, mum."

Rachel hit me on the shoulder.

I parked the truck in front of the Z mart.

"Stay here and let me check something first, okay?"

"Sure."

Rachel left the truck, quickly picked at the store window then ran back in.

"Do you know a Ricky Martinez?"

"The name doesn't ring a bell."

"Good. Here's what you're going to do. Keep your coat up to cover your face a bit. Get a cig in your hand and look angry."

"Why?"

"You will see."

"If you say so."

She ran out again and went into the store while I adjusted my coat. I glanced outside but Rachel wasn't out yet so I decided to take a pick at her bag. Perhaps I could get an idea of what this part of the plan was. I opened it and find only her clothes. I closed it and put it back into its original place. Then I remembered I had to get a smoke in my hand. I started to pat my side but stopped myself. I'd forgotten once more she had mine.

"Damn it."

I looked around the truck for my emergency pack. Under the chair? Empty. Glove compartment? Same. In between the seats? There it was. I took out a smoke and stored the pack in the glove compartment just in time to see Rachel exiting the Z Mart, followed by a man wearing a mask as well as the full regalia of a luchador, under a sheet of transparent plastic, carrying a keg. Where did this guy come from and what was she planning? They were soon near the truck and the luchador went near my window.

"See? That's my mum."

I granted while nodding to the guy. He looked at me for a second but seemed to have bought the charade. He loaded the keg up in the truck and ran back inside the store while Rachel joined me.

"I hope you weren't getting this guy late for his match."

"Good one, Chloe. I'm sorry but we have to go to hell."

"Roger that."

I started the truck once again and headed for Blackwell Academy.

"So… what's the keg for?"

"Right. Right. The Vortex club is having a party tonight and the task of bringing in the keg they ordered kinda fell to me. You know how important it is for me to be part of this club, right? The Ruling Three had given the task to Hayden but his car broke down last night and he hasn't been able to get it fixed on time. Apparently, it wasn't as strong as your truck."

The three second-year seniors that were calling themselves the Ruling Three had seriously changed the Vortex Club’s original goal and if Nathan and Victoria were to replace them next year that would just be more of the same.

"But you were supposed to be in Vermont for the whole weekend."

"Dana texted me about the emergency and she seemed really distraught. Nathan and Victoria are already a shoe in and they felt the task was beneath them but the Ruling Three said they would eject the rest of our year from the club if we couldn’t accomplish this simple thing so I had to volunteer."

"You're always here to fix everyone else's problems, Rach. You should let them figure some of these problems out themselves. That would do them some good."

"I know, Chloe. But not this time, it's too important to mess up."

"So, you didn't ditch Vermont because you were bored, nor missing me or wanted to rescue your grandma's gnomes. But because you were needed for a Vortex party…"

"That's not true. I was really bored up there but yes. At first I ditched after Dana's message and taking the time for the gnomes was an added bonus. But I really did miss you as well, all day every day."

"Didn't feel like it. You left me without any news the whole week while you were chatting with Dana the whole time."

"Just the one time, Chloe. It's not like you tried to contact me yourself."

"I was respecting your wishes. You said you didn't want to be disturbed up there."

"I didn't believe you would follow that to the letter. But you were the first person that matters I went to see when I arrived home."

"You said you picked up some medication on the way."

"That's doesn't count. He doesn't matter. Just a supplier. You know that."

What the hell was happening? I didn't want to fight with Rachel. Not today. Not ever if possible. For once in my life I had to control myself. I was in a moving vehicle. I had to be able to concentrate on my driving.

"I do know that. You're right. But I missed you hella much."

"I missed you too, silly."

We arrived in the parking lot of the worst place in Arcadia Bay. The rain stopped as soon as we reached the building, it must have been evaporated by the heat of the hellfire. I parked right next to Nathan's transportation, took my siphoning tub and jerrycan, and went out.

"So I guess I'll leave you to your party now?"

"Hella no. You're coming with me!"

"What? No way on Earth I'm going in there."

"But I've got you a costume and everything."

"Costume?"

"Chloe… did you forget what day it is?"

I unlocked the busted cap of Nathan's gas tank and put the tub inside.

"We're in October. That I know. After that…"

"It's Halloween!

I sucked on the tub for a second then I could taste the gas then let it fill the can.

"Oh… That would explain the luchador back there."

"Yes, Chloe."

"But you don't have a costume yourself."

"In fact I do."

"Come again?"

"I'm going as Chloe Price."

"That's why you have been hugging my jacket all day!"

"She's finally getting it."

"You expect me to wear a costume and go meddle with these jackasses?"

"Yes."

"No way I'm doing that in this state."

I put the cap back on and went to fill up my truck.

"That's why I brought the beers."

"I'm not sure if it will be enough."

"In this case I'm sure we will find some more inside and you have your medication to go with it."

"Right. You win once again. But we just do a quick tour and as soon as I feel bored we get back home okay?"

"You have a deal, Chloe Price."

"Show me my costume."

What one had to do for love. She gave me her backpack and I looked inside. It was her regular flannel shirt with jeans.

"Yeah. That won't fit me."

"Try it, you might be surprised."

I went back into the truck to change myself. I was surprised, for once her clothes were fitting me.

"See? I told you."

"These are not your regular clothes."

"You got me. Mum bought me some online one day that arrived a size too big. But instead of returning them I kept them just in case. And today was the perfect day to use them."

"Remind me, what's the theme of the party this time? I guess it's not just The Halloween party…"

It was never that simple with the Vortex parties.

"It's the Valentine's Day at Halloween Party."

"Wait, what?"

"It sounds dumb, I know. It was Courtney's idea this time. She had a new boyfriend and she couldn't wait for February to really show him off so she suggested this idea to the committee. And since we decided long ago to let Courtney have one idea per year and she had decided to waste her opportunity on this one so we accepted it and the Ruling Three seemed to approve of the idea as well."

"Yeah, that's too many things I don’t care about. You could have stopped at Courtney's idea."

"But I so love teasing you about all this."

"On another subject: how do you plan to bring the keg in now?"

"That's easy."

Rachel reached for the horn and pressed it twice. Nearly a second later, Hayden was headed out of the building towards the parking lot, a trolley in hand. He was wearing a black tuxedo. He looked around until he saw us and went straight for the trunk. Rachel joined him.

“Hey Hayden.”

“Hey gorgeous, thanks for picking up my slack. You’re a lifesaver.”

She helped him put the keg on the trolley. He passed by my window.

"Hey, Chloe. Long time no see. By the way, nice costume."

"Yeah, great. And what are you supposed to be?"

"Bond, James Bond."

"Very original."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't supposed to be a compl…"

He had left for the building before I was able to finish my sentence. Looked like he was already blazed. I should start medicating myself also. I grabbed a beer from the pack and cracked it open. Finally something proper to hydrate myself with. Rachel showed up at my window.

"I'm heading inside to help with the preparation. Leave one of the side for me please?"

"I can't promise you that."

"Fair enough. Just please don't leave the parking lot."

"Sure thing, Rach."

Things started to get weird after my third beer. I was in my truck when I cracked the fourth one and then I was in a bathroom. Was it the Blackwell’s bathroom? I didn’t remember it ever being that messy. I still had a beer in my hand so everything was fine. I turned my head and saw Courtney sitting on the ground, her arms hugging her legs. I didn't know what came over me but I went and sat by her side.

"Hey, Courtney. What's wrong?"

"He dumped me! I did all this for him and… and… he didn't even come!"

"Who?"

"George!"

"Oh right, _George_."

Who the fuck was George?

I was a bit too close to her so she was able to grab my arm and started crying all over it. I had to do something to get my arm back.

"There, there. It will be alright. Take a sip of this, you will feel better afterwards."

"You really think so?"

"I know so. Nothing can't be solved with a good beer!"

"Thanks, Chloe."

She took a sip from my can and handed it back to me.

"You're welcome."

I took a sip of it myself and I was in a swimming pool, full of bizarre people, all wearing impossible outfits. It was really Halloween but I still hadn't been able to get the Valentine's Day part of it until now. On the right side of the pool a small platform had been installed with two mics, a big screen and a karaoke machine. Dana was up there singing with some jock I'd forgotten the name of. They were singing some lovey-dovey song and my beer was starting to get very empty. It was nearly time to go. I turned around, decided on looking for Rachel when I spotted Hayden making a beeline for me. He was dragging along some girl. She might have been one of the girls from the class after us but I wasn't sure. It wasn't like I remembered everyone at this damned school. He stopped in front of me and handed me an unopened beer.

"Rachel told me to look for you and give you this. She told me she had an errand to run that shouldn't take too long and she said that should hold you for long enough."

"Thanks I guess."

"You're welcome, Chloe. Enjoy!"

And they were off to the stage. Dana and Jock-guy were done with their set apparently. I opened the new beer and took a sip. Not bad at all. I could stay a little longer. I just had to get out of this pool. Too many people for my liking. Fuck, I needed to smoke so bad. I had to get to my truck. One sip and I would be on my way.

Now I was on the stage, in front of all the people I couldn't stand and that didn't like me back, a beer in one hand and a mic on the other. I looked around the stage but saw no one else.

"Get off the stage, Price!"

Victoria was still around apparently. And she was asking so nicely, why not oblige her? The big screen was displaying the first line of the song. I immediately recognized it.

"Oh Meatloaf, I love it."

The strangeness didn't stop. I was on stage, in front of an audience and I was going to perform the best song they would ever see in their miserable life. A small screen on the side of the stage was also playing the lyrics but I didn't need it. I’d got this one. The music kicked in and I was off.

" _Well I remember every little things as if it happened only yesterday_ …"

My voice was perfect. I was mimicking Meatloaf mannerism that he was using in the video I had seen so many times with my father.

" _C'mon hold on tight, oh c'mon hold on tight_ "

I pointed to my side then remembered I was alone on stage, I quickly turned to look and saw myself by my side, a huge smile on my face, no her face. Was it mine or hers? Perhaps I was smiling as well. My double picked up her part of the song without missing a beat.

" _Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night_ "

I followed suit.

" _I can see paradise by the dashboard light_ "

She went on with her solo part, singing perfectly as well. Even better than I did. She sounded like an angel. My angel. Was it Rachel? It was. When did she had the time to dye her hair blue? Or was it a wig? She went all out. I was starting to think she didn't start to prepare for this only this morning. Our part together was coming up, I had to focus.

" _Ain't no doubt about it, Baby got to go and shout it_ …"

I was in the groove and Rachel ecstatic as well.

" _'Cause we were barely seventeen and we were barely dressed_ "

I tried to simulate the same little weird dance he would do but instead I tripped on myself and let my mic drop down. I quickly picked it up before my next part.

" _Baby don't you hear my heart, you got it drowning out the radio_ …"

It didn't matter, I was looking all around me, pointing at the crowd, running around the stage.

" _And now our bodies are oh so close and tight_ …"

I bumped my back against Rachel's. She pushed against mine in kind but she was still fixing the small screen, getting ready for her next verse. We went on like this for the next couple verse until it was the time when the song was changing tempo. I waited for Rachel to finish her half verse to cut her short.

" _'Cause we were barely seventeen and we were barely_ …"

As I was starting my fast tempo verse, the light went out and a blue spot landed on me. That didn't phase me.

" _We're gonna go all the way tonight. We're gonna go all the way and tonight's the night_ "

I couldn't see Rachel clearly anymore, so I got very close to her and finally saw her face that was displaying the most radiant smile. She put her hands on my chest and I let the mic drop, took hold of her and started kissing her. Fuck the stage, fuck the crowd, fuck everyone. I wanted her. I’d been waiting for a whole week for this. I couldn't stop myself anymore and looked like she wasn't stopping me either. She was responding in kind. After a few seconds of uninterrupted bliss I realized someone was still sing in the back. While keeping my mouth stuck to Rachel's, I quickly picked on the side and saw that little Warren had joined us on stage and was narrating the baseball game part of the song.

" _He's rounding first and really turning it on now. He's not letting up at all. He's gonna try for second, the ball is bobbled out in center_ …"

I focused back on my angel and her wonderful lips. The last part of the baseball game was coming too soon. I didn't want to let Rachel go. I hoped she wouldn't know what she was supposed to do next or she would have forgotten and kept on kissing me instead.

" _Here he comes, squeeze play, it's gonna be close here's the throw here's the play at the… Holy cow, I think he's gonna make it"_

But at last, she had prepared well. She closed her mouth, moved her face back, pushed me hard and picked her mic up.

" _Stop right here, I gotta know right now_ …"

Warren had disappeared from stage. I reluctantly took my mic back and looked deeply into Rachel's eyes as she went on.

" _Before we go any further, Do you love me?_ "

Yes! Yes, I didn't!

" _Will you love me forever? Do you need me?_ "

She couldn't possibly know how much I needed her.

" _Will you never leave me?_ "

Never!

" _Will you make so happy for the rest of my life?_ "

Yes! Yes!

" _Will you take me away_ …"

That had always been the plan!

"… _will you make me your wife?_ "

I… the thought hadn't occurred until now. But if that was what she wanted. Why not! Yes, I would. Wait. What was I thinking? It was all part of the song. I was such a dumbass. I looked back at Rachel and she was edging me to go on. Right. It was my turn.

" _Let me sleep on it. Baby, baby let me sleep on it. Let me sleep on it and I'll give you an answer in the morning_ …"

I had nearly missed my mark. I went on. Focusing on my verses until it was back to Rachel.

" _I gotta know right now_ …"

What was I thinking? What were we doing… Where we really on stage? Oh no. I was singing in front of all these people. I started to panic a little, looking around while Rachel seemed unfazed. She went closer to me and pronounced the last part of her verse.

" _What's it gonna be, boy? Yes or no?_ "

I looked at her flabbergasted, I couldn't remember the next part… I looked at the small screen but it all seemed blurry. I turned back to Rachel, her expression was one of worry. That was went the verse came back to me.

" _Let me sleep on it_ …"

On the last word I felt a heavy thumb in my brain and passed out.

* * *

I woke up in my bed, at the Madsen residence. I couldn't see if it was night or day because the blinds were on with something covering them up, leaving not a single ray of light pass through. I felt a warm body at my side. It was Rachel. I tried to move my arm to put it on her side but it landed on her bottom instead. I immediately felt her hand grabbing mine and moving it to her side. She was really a mind reader.

"Hey sleepyhead. How do you feel?"

I was hungover already.

"My head still hurts…"

"So about last night."

The event of last night came back to me.

"Did I really sing on stage?"

"Yes, you did."

"FUCK!"

"That was magical. Victoria filmed the whole thing and put it on the internet, everyone is loving it. In a good way, I swear."

"Fuck!"

"You were perfect. Well except for the last part."

"Did Hayden spike my drinks? I remember him offering me a beer. I should have refused it, I knew it!"

"Nah, I really gave it to him for you. It's probably a mix of beer, weed and the heat of the stage that did the trick."

"Why did you let me sing? In front of everyone!"

"Because, deep inside you, you know you wanted to and, let me repeat it, you were perfect up there. Everyone loved your performance."

"Rahh!!"

"Don't worry, Chloe. You'll be fine. Now gimme a kiss."

I put my worries aside and, as requested, I started kissing her. I felt her hands grabbing my shirt to remove it.

"I thought we had to wait two more days?"

"That was yesterday. Today I say we have been waiting long enough."

My angel.


End file.
